IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v44y2018icp34-45.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Structural labour market reforms, GDP growth and the functional distribution of income

Author

Listed:
  • Brancaccio, Emiliano
  • Garbellini, Nadia
  • Giammetti, Raffaele

Abstract

The view that “structural reforms” designed to deregulate the labour market would be able to increase employment and income is questioned by controversial empirical results, while the likelihood that these reforms accentuate inequalities seems to be supported by recent evidence. The wide literature on this issue, however, lacks studies on the specific implications of “structural labour-market reforms” on growth and functional distribution of income. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by proposing two new empirical analyses aimed at verifying the existence of statistical relationships between changes in the Employment protection legislation index (EPL) on one side and variations of real GDP growth and wage share on the other side. Results indicate that EPL reductions have no significant links with real GDP growth whereas they are significantly correlated with wage share reductions. These results contradict some features of the neoclassical theories of growth and distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Brancaccio, Emiliano & Garbellini, Nadia & Giammetti, Raffaele, 2018. "Structural labour market reforms, GDP growth and the functional distribution of income," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 34-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:44:y:2018:i:c:p:34-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2017.09.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X17301649
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2017.09.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean-Paul Fitoussi & Francesco Saraceno, 2013. "European economic governance: the Berlin–Washington Consensus," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(3), pages 479-496.
    2. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1994. "Flexibility, investment, and growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 215-238, October.
    3. Olivier Blanchard & Francesco Giavazzi, 2003. "Macroeconomic Effects of Regulation and Deregulation in Goods and Labor Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 879-907.
    4. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    5. A. B. Atkinson, 2009. "Factor shares: the principal problem of political economy?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 3-16, Spring.
    6. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García‐Peñalosa, 2010. "Labour Market Institutions and the Personal Distribution of Income in the OECD," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(307), pages 413-450, July.
    7. Bruno Amable & Lilas Demmou & Donatella Gatti, 2007. "Employment Performance and Institutions: New Answers to an Old Question," CEPN Working Papers hal-04021096, HAL.
    8. Edward P. Lazear, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726.
    9. Michèle Belot & Jan C. van Ours, 2004. "Does the recent success of some OECD countries in lowering their unemployment rates lie in the clever design of their labor market reforms?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 621-642, October.
    10. Paul Maarek & Elsa Orgiazzi, 2013. "Currency Crises and the Labour Share," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(319), pages 566-588, July.
    11. Michèle Belot & Jan Boone & Jan Van Ours, 2007. "Welfare‐Improving Employment Protection," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(295), pages 381-396, August.
    12. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    13. Baccaro, Lucio & Rei, Diego, 2007. "Institutional Determinants of Unemployment in OECD Countries: Does the Deregulatory View Hold Water?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 527-569, July.
    14. Richard B. Freeman, 2007. "Labor Market Institutions Around the World," NBER Working Papers 13242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Williamson, Stephen D., 1986. "Costly monitoring, financial intermediation, and equilibrium credit rationing," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 159-179, September.
    16. Alessandro Turrini & Gabor Koltay & Fabiana Pierini & Clarisse Goffard & Aron Kiss, 2015. "A decade of labour market reforms in the EU: insights from the LABREF database," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-33, December.
    17. César Calderón & Alberto Chong & Rodrigo O. Valdés, 2005. "Labor Market Regulations and Income Inequality: Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Jorge Restrepo & Andrea Tokman R. & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Edi (ed.),Labor Markets and Institutions, edition 1, volume 8, chapter 7, pages 221-279, Central Bank of Chile.
    18. Adascalitei, Dragos. & Pignatti, Clemente., 2015. "Labour market reforms since the crisis drivers and consequences," ILO Working Papers 994889613402676, International Labour Organization.
    19. Giovanni Dosi & Marcelo C. Pereira & Andrea Roventini & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2016. "The Effects of Labour Market Reforms upon Unemployment and Income Inequalities: an Agent Based Model," LEM Papers Series 2016/27, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    20. Pasinetti,Luigi, 1993. "Structural Economic Dynamics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521432825.
    21. Engelbert Stockhammer & Özlem Onaran & Stefan Ederer, 2009. "Functional income distribution and aggregate demand in the Euro area," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 139-159, January.
    22. Guerriero, Marta & Sen, Kunal, 2012. "What Determines the Share of Labour in National Income? A Cross-Country Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 6643, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Alberto Alonso & Cristina Echevarria & Kien C. Tran, 2004. "Long-Run Economic Performance and the Labor Market," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(4), pages 905-919, April.
    24. Francesco Daveri & Guido Tabellini, 2000. "Unemployment, growth and taxation in industrial countries," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 15(30), pages 48-104.
    25. Florence Jaumotte & Carolina Osorio Buitron, 2015. "Inequality and Labor Market Institutions," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 15/14, International Monetary Fund.
    26. Rachel Griffith & Rupert Harrison & Gareth Macartney, 2007. "Product Market Reforms, Labour Market Institutions and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(519), pages 142-166, March.
    27. Olivier Blanchard, 2006. "European unemployment: the evolution of facts and ideas [‘The macroeconomics of low inflation’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 21(45), pages 6-59.
    28. Robert Vergeer & Alfred Kleinknecht, 2012. "Do Flexible Labor Markets Indeed Reduce Unemployment? A Robustness Check," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 70(4), pages 451-467, December.
    29. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García-Peñalosa, 2008. "Labour market institutions and income inequality [‘Globalisation and the great U-turn: Income inequality trends in 16 OECD countries’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 23(56), pages 602-649.
    30. David R. Howell & Miriam Rehm, 2009. "Unemployment compensation and high European unemployment: a reassessment with new benefit indicators," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 60-93, Spring.
    31. Eatwell, John & Milgate, Murray, 2011. "The Fall and Rise of Keynesian Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199777693.
    32. Pietro Garibaldi & Giovanni L. Violante, 2005. "The Employment Effects of Severance Payments with Wage Rigidities," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(506), pages 799-832, October.
    33. Howell David R. & Baker Dean & Glyn Andrew & Schmitt John, 2007. "Are Protective Labor Market Institutions at the Root of Unemployment? A Critical Review of the Evidence," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-73, May.
    34. Thibault Darcillon, 2015. "How does Finance Affect Labor Market Institutions? An Empirical Analysis in 16 OECD Countries," Post-Print hal-01248941, HAL.
    35. Lingens, Jorg, 2003. "The impact of a unionised labour market in a Schumpeterian growth model," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 91-104, February.
    36. Emilie Daudey & Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa, 2007. "The personal and the factor distributions of income in a cross-section of countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 812-829.
    37. Robert M. Solow (ed.), 2004. "Structural Reform and Economic Policy," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-52444-6, December.
    38. Boyd, John H. & Prescott, Edward C., 1986. "Financial intermediary-coalitions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 211-232, April.
    39. Garegnani, Pierangelo, 1984. "Value and Distribution in the Classical Economists and Marx," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 291-325, June.
    40. Alessio Moneta & Federica Russo, 2014. "Causal models and evidential pluralism in econometrics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 54-76, March.
    41. Dale T. Mortensen, 2005. "Alfred Marshall Lecture: Growth, Unemployment, and Labor Market Policy," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 236-258, 04/05.
    42. Azariadis, Costas & Smith, Bruce D, 1996. "Private Information, Money, and Growth: Indeterminacy, Fluctuations, and the Mundell-Tobin Effect," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 309-332, September.
    43. Ms. Florence Jaumotte & Ms. Carolina Osorio-Buitron, 2015. "Inequality and Labor Market Institutions," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2015/014, International Monetary Fund.
    44. David R. Howell, Miriam Rehm, 2009. "WP 2009-9 Unemployment Compensation and High European Unemployment: A Reassessment with New Benefit Indicators," SCEPA working paper series. 2009-9, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    45. Siebert, Horst, 1997. "Labor market rigidities and unemployment in Europe," Kiel Working Papers 787, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    46. Stéphane Adjemian & François Langot & Coralia Quintero-Rojas, 2010. "How do Labor Market Institutions affect the Link between Growth and Unemployment: the case of the European countries," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 7(2), pages 347-371, December.
    47. Antonio Andreoni & Roberto Scazzieri, 2014. "Triggers of change: structural trajectories and production dynamics," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(6), pages 1391-1408.
    48. Emiliano Brancaccio & Nadia Garbellini, 2015. "Currency regime crises, real wages, functional income distribution and production," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 12(3), pages 255-276, December.
    49. Antonella Stirati, 2016. "Real wages in the business cycle and the theory of income distribution: an unresolved conflict between theory and facts in mainstream macroeconomics," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 639-661.
    50. Rovelli, Riccardo & Bruno, Randolph Luca, 2008. "Labor Market Policies, Institutions and Employment Rates in the EU-27," IZA Discussion Papers 3502, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    51. Horst Siebert, 1997. "Labor Market Rigidities: At the Root of Unemployment in Europe," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 37-54, Summer.
    52. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/50jd34uldo9jioklc7b0dpu4ej is not listed on IDEAS
    53. Storm, Servaas & Naastepad, C. W. M., 2012. "Macroeconomics Beyond the NAIRU," Economics Books, Harvard University Press, number 9780674062276, Spring.
    54. Kurose, Kazuhiro, 2013. "The dynamics of the labour market and income distribution in relation to the speed of demand saturation," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 101-111.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dosi, G. & Pereira, M.C. & Roventini, A. & Virgillito, M.E., 2017. "When more flexibility yields more fragility: The microfoundations of Keynesian aggregate unemployment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 162-186.
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/9d007rc2q9huruni0kde2vr73 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Emiliano Brancaccio & Fabiana De Cristofaro & Raffaele Giammetti, 2020. "No Consensus In The Imf-Oecd 'Consensus': A Meta-Analysis On The Employment Impact Of Labour Deregulations," Working Papers 445, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    4. Campos, Nauro F. & De Grauwe, Paul & Ji, Yuemei, 2023. "Structural reforms and economic performance: the experience of advanced economies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120870, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Kyoji Fukao & Cristiano Perugini, 2021. "The Long‐Run Dynamics of the Labor Share in Japan," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 445-480, June.
    6. Giovanni Dosi & Marcelo Pereira & Andrea Roventini & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2016. "The Effects of Labour Market Reforms upon Unemployment and Income Inequalities: an Agent Based Model," Working Papers hal-03459264, HAL.
    7. Christoph S. Weber, 2020. "The unemployment effect of central bank transparency," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(6), pages 2947-2975, December.
    8. Heimberger, Philipp & Kapeller, Jakob & Schütz, Bernhard, 2017. "The NAIRU determinants: What’s structural about unemployment in Europe?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 883-908.
    9. Sabina Avdagic, 2015. "Does Deregulation Work? Reassessing the Unemployment Effects of Employment Protection," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 6-26, March.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/50jd34uldo9jioklc7b0dpu4ej is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bofinger, Peter & Buch, Claudia M. & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Wieland, Volker, 2013. "Gegen eine rückwärtsgewandte Wirtschaftspolitik. Jahresgutachten 2013/14 [Against a backward-looking economic policy. Annual Report 2013/14]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201314.
    12. Horst Feldmann, 2013. "Technological unemployment in industrial countries," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1099-1126, November.
    13. repec:pra:mprapa:43050 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Sachs, Andreas, 2010. "A Bayesian approach to determine the impact of institutions on the unemployment rate," ZEW Discussion Papers 10-058, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Dragos Adascalitei & Sameer Khatiwada & Miguel Á. Malo & Pignatti Moran, 2015. "Employment protection and collective bargaining during the great recession: a comprehensive review of international evidence," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 12, pages 50-87.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5rtilga41c899ab0rctd3cp2r3 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Giovanni Dosi & Marcelo Pereira & Andrea Roventini & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2018. "The labour-augmented K+S model : a laboratory for the analysis of institutional and policy regimes," Working Papers hal-03443457, HAL.
    18. Horst Feldmann, 2011. "The Unemployment Puzzle of Corporate Taxation," Public Finance Review, , vol. 39(6), pages 743-769, November.
    19. Silvia Fedeli & Vitantonio Mariella & Marco Onofri, 2018. "Determinants of Joblessness During the Economic Crisis: Impact of Criminality in the Italian Labour Market," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 559-588, September.
    20. Gaetano Perone, 2018. "Produttività del lavoro, dinamica salariale e squilibri commerciali nei Paesi dell'Eurozona: un'analisi empirica," Economia & lavoro, Carocci editore, issue 3, pages 61-98.
    21. Andrea Bassanini & Romain Duval, 2006. "The Determinants of Unemployment across OECD Countries," Post-Print halshs-00120584, HAL.
    22. Andreas Sachs & Frauke Schleer, 2019. "Labor Market Performance in OECD Countries: The Role of Institutional Interdependencies," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 431-454, July.
    23. Valeria Cirillo & Marta Fana & Dario Guarascio, 2017. "Labour market reforms in Italy: evaluating the effects of the Jobs Act," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 34(2), pages 211-232, August.
    24. Mirella Damiani & Fabrizio Pompei & Andrea Ricci, 2012. "Labour Shares and Employment Protection in European Economies," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 111/2012, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Structural reform; Labour market flexibility; EPL; GDP growth; Functional income distribution; Inequality; Neoclassical theory; Alternative approaches to growth and distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B5 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:44:y:2018:i:c:p:34-45. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.